VIDEO: Disney Is Tracking Your Every Move with NSA-Style Wristbands

A new report notes that families planning trips to one of Disney’s theme parks can now get waterproof rubber wristbands embedded with computer chips in lieu of paper tickets. The bands when scanned act as a park entry ticket, FastPass, hotel room key and a credit card. “Magic Bands” are currently optional and are part of the new MyMagic+ “vacation management system” that tracks guests as they move throughout the park.

There may be benefits but is it worth it? Some worry that Magic Bands are NSA-esque tracking devices. Acording to Time.com the MyMagic+ system is designed to track users’ purchasing habits, and if parents agree to certain settings, employees playing characters in the park can use hidden sensors to track children and their information; so Goofy can walk up to a child and say something like, “Hi Bobby. Happy birthday.” Pretty creepy. Plus, others worry that someone might be able to hack your band and thus access your hotel room and credit card.

Massachusetts Rep Ed Markey publicly criticized the bands after they were announced last year, saying that he worried that the new tickets invade the privacy of millions of children. Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger, responded by calling Markey’s statements “ludicrous” and “ill-informed.”